Canon C50 vs Sony FX3 - Codecs Breakdown (H.264, H.265 & RAW)

[00:01] [music]

[00:02] >> Continuing our side-by-side look of the

[00:04] Canon C50 and FX3, it's now [music] time

[00:07] to shift our focus to video codecs

[00:09] because having a variety of different

[00:11] video codecs and formats [music]

[00:13] is the backbone of what makes

[00:14] video-focused cameras like these the

[00:16] right choice as a professional tool for

[00:18] video work, whether it be for broadcast

[00:20] work, documentary, narrative short

[00:22] films, content creation, long-form or

[00:24] short-form, having access to the right

[00:26] codecs and formats makes all the

[00:28] difference in giving you the

[00:28] flexibility, performance, and quality

[00:31] you need. [music] With that in mind, we

[00:32] wanted to take a look at the codecs on

[00:34] offer on the Canon C50 and FX3. Let's

[00:37] start with the Sony FX3A. There are

[00:40] three codecs available. Sony's XAVC HS,

[00:44] which is their H.265 HEVC format. Then

[00:47] there's their XAVC S, their long GOP

[00:50] H.264 format. And then there's their

[00:52] XAVC SI, which is their industry

[00:56] standard intra frame all I H.264 base

[00:59] codec.

[01:00] Let's start with XAVC HS. As stated,

[01:04] this is Sony's implementation of their

[01:06] H.265 HEVC format. And when using this

[01:09] format on the FX3A, you only have the

[01:12] option to shoot in 4K UHD

[01:14] >> [music]

[01:14] >> with no FHD option and no DCI 4K. It's

[01:18] also available only in 10-bit with two

[01:22] options of either 4:2:0 or 4:2:2 color

[01:24] space. There's some other limitations

[01:27] here with Sony's XAVC HS. When shooting

[01:31] in PAL mode, you only have 50 and 100

[01:34] FPS with no 25 FPS option. If you happen

[01:37] to be in an NTSC region, then the option

[01:40] is 24, 60, and 120 FPS, but there's

[01:43] still no 30 FPS option, so just

[01:45] something to consider. Overall, HEVC as

[01:48] a format is very efficient when it comes

[01:50] to the quality you can capture with

[01:52] minimal storage space taken up, and with

[01:54] the correct supported computer and

[01:56] hardware, playback and editing with it

[01:58] works great. Now let's look at XAVC S.

[02:02] This is Sony's H.264 long GOP format.

[02:05] You can record this in both UHD 4K and

[02:08] FHD, but again, no DCI 4K. You get the

[02:11] choice of 4:2:2 10-bit and 4:2:0 8-bit.

[02:16] This also applies the same in 1080p.

[02:19] This format sits as a nice in-between

[02:21] choice. It's not as high quality as

[02:23] their XAVC SI, and it's not as efficient

[02:27] as their H.265 base XAVC HS, but you can

[02:31] access all the frame rates when in PAL

[02:33] at 25, 50, and 100, and also in NTSC,

[02:37] which is 24, 30, 60, and 120 FPS when

[02:41] shooting in 4K UHD and FHD, and it will

[02:44] work better on older computers than

[02:47] compared to the XAVC

[02:49] HS. Last is XAVC SI. This is Sony's

[02:54] high-performance, high-quality all I

[02:57] H.264 format, and it's widely regarded

[02:59] as the industry standard when it comes

[03:02] to broadcast and commercial work, which

[03:04] says a lot about the quality and

[03:05] performance that is associated with

[03:07] Sony's XAVC SI as a codec. You can

[03:11] choose between 4K UHD, DCI 4K, and FHD.

[03:16] So, for those that need that DCI 4K 17:9

[03:19] aspect ratio, this is the codec and

[03:21] format to use on the FX3A. Do note in

[03:24] the DCI 4K mode, you are locked to 24

[03:27] FPS only, and the camera does do a

[03:30] system reboot. For the recording

[03:31] setting, you are locked down to just one

[03:33] option of 4:2:2 10-bit with no 8-bit

[03:36] option or 4:2:0. Even down to the

[03:39] bitrate, that is also locked down to

[03:41] match the frame rate and resolution that

[03:44] you're using, so it shows the intent of

[03:46] the codec for acquisition to be as high

[03:48] quality as possible. This is the largest

[03:50] option in terms of sizes, but the

[03:53] performance is very smooth when working

[03:54] in post-production. Now with the Sony

[03:57] FX3A covered, let's move over to the

[04:00] Canon C50's internal codecs and formats.

[04:03] There's a lot happening here with the

[04:05] Canon C50 with four internal codecs

[04:07] available, including a raw video format.

[04:11] Let's first start with XF AVC S. This is

[04:14] Canon's H.264 AVC codec, which is based

[04:18] around an MP4 container file. It's

[04:21] available in DCI 4K, 4K UHD, DCI 2K, and

[04:25] FHD. The color space option available is

[04:27] 4:2:2 10-bit and 4:2:0 10-bit. Now in

[04:31] the 4:2:2 10-bit mode, you have the

[04:33] option to select between long GOP or all

[04:36] I compression. For the 4:2:0 8-bit, this

[04:39] is purely long GOP only. A nice added

[04:42] extra flexibility and touch is that when

[04:44] recording in the 4K UHD or DCI modes,

[04:47] the all I compression gives you three

[04:50] bitrates to choose from at 500, 375, and

[04:54] 250 megabits per second. This is great

[04:56] to see because usually when recording in

[04:58] all I, there isn't an option to scale

[05:00] the bitrate to manage your storage for

[05:02] longer record times if it's something

[05:04] you need, so the flexibility here is a

[05:06] nice touch to give you control over your

[05:08] file sizes at the same time as giving

[05:11] you the post-production benefits of an

[05:13] all I codec.

[05:14] Next is XF HEVC S.

[05:18] This is Canon's professional H.265

[05:20] codec. With this format, it only shoots

[05:23] in 10-bit color with the option of 4:2:2

[05:26] and 4:2:0 sampling, so no 8-bit option

[05:29] here. For the Canon C50, this is a long

[05:32] GOP compression technique being used,

[05:34] and in fact, for us here at ProAV, this

[05:36] is now our most widely and regularly

[05:38] used codec for recording when making

[05:40] these videos. We almost exclusively use

[05:43] XF HEVC S on our Canon C80 and C50 cuz

[05:47] it gives us all the quality we need for

[05:49] relatively simple videos like this while

[05:52] being very friendly on storage. On the

[05:54] Canon C50, the XF HEVC S can be recorded

[05:57] in DCI 4K, UHD, DCI 2K, and FHD, so very

[06:02] flexible options here.

[06:04] Now because the C50 supports open gate

[06:06] full sensor 3:2 recording, you can tap

[06:09] into the full 7K resolution of the

[06:11] sensor whilst still using XF HEVC S,

[06:14] using it either in 4:2:2 10-bit or 4:2:0

[06:17] 10-bit, which is great. You will be

[06:20] limited to a max frame rate of up to 30

[06:22] FPS, but this is still impressive

[06:24] nonetheless. With modern chipsets in

[06:26] computers being so efficient in how they

[06:28] handle HEVC, using it has been such a

[06:31] benefit to our workflow. Now let's look

[06:33] at XF AVC. Now it may sound like we've

[06:36] been here before, and it does sound very

[06:37] similar to the XF AVC S, but regular XF

[06:40] AVC uses a .MXF container rather than a

[06:45] .MP4 container. You still get the same

[06:48] option of long GOP and all I compression

[06:50] with resolutions of DCI 4K, 4K UHD, DCI

[06:54] 2K, and FHD. Now the .MXF container or

[06:58] wrapper was designed specifically to

[07:00] give you easier playback and editing

[07:02] performance in post-production and other

[07:04] benefits such as being able to use

[07:06] interlace scan formats rather than

[07:07] progressive. So, this is more broadcast

[07:10] friendly, but it does still mean that

[07:13] you can't see thumbnails and quick

[07:15] playback for your video clips without

[07:16] bringing it into some post-production

[07:18] software. Last, but by far not the

[07:21] least, top of the food chain is raw.

[07:23] Yes, with the Canon C50, you have

[07:25] internal raw recording using Canon's

[07:27] Cinema Raw Light codec. This is a 12-bit

[07:30] raw format which uses a .CRM container

[07:32] and allows you to shoot the maximum

[07:35] resolution of the sensor mode that

[07:36] you're in. For example, in full frame

[07:39] 3:2 open gate and full frame, you get

[07:42] the maximum 7K resolution of the C50

[07:44] sensor. When you go down to Super 35 mm

[07:47] and Super 16 mm, then it goes down in

[07:50] resolution to 5K and 2.5K, respectively.

[07:53] Raw comes in three flavors: LT, ST, and

[07:56] HQ. When you shoot in LT and ST, this is

[08:00] when the C50 has the option of 7K 60

[08:02] [music] FPS in full frame mode. This is

[08:05] a major benefit of shooting internal raw

[08:07] on the C50 because [music] this is the

[08:09] only way to get the full resolution and

[08:11] frame rate of the sensor together. 7K 60

[08:14] FPS is not available on the other more

[08:16] compressed codecs we've already looked

[08:18] at. The performance of Cinema Raw Light

[08:20] in post-production can be more

[08:22] demanding, and you will get slightly

[08:24] more noise in your image straight out of

[08:26] camera because there is no noise

[08:27] reduction in the camera being done to

[08:30] this codec at that time, but raw formats

[08:33] like these are all about enabling you to

[08:35] get the best possible image quality in

[08:37] your grading suite with control over

[08:39] things like your white balance, ISO, log

[08:41] format, sharpness, tint, and more. As

[08:44] long as minimal compression is a thing,

[08:46] which is designed for performance in

[08:49] your grading suite. So, that's codecs on

[08:52] both the FX3A and the Canon C50. For a

[08:55] lot of people and the work that they'll

[08:57] be doing, both these cameras will

[08:59] definitely have you covered when it

[09:00] comes to the codecs you need for

[09:02] acquisition during capturing and

[09:03] recording, post-production in the

[09:05] intermediate [music] reprocess, and also

[09:07] for final delivery for the platforms you

[09:09] need for your work [music] to be seen.

[09:11] That said, it's clear to see the added

[09:13] options that are available here on the

[09:15] Canon C50 [music] from very modern

[09:17] codecs like HEVC up to the top internal

[09:20] raw codec, which truly unlocks the

[09:22] maximum recording capability of the C50.

[09:25] If you want to buy any of these cameras

[09:27] yourself, [music] then head over to

[09:28] ProAV, and we'll be more than happy to

[09:30] help. Like, subscribe, and turn on the

[09:31] notification. Thanks for watching, and

[09:33] we will see you next [music] time.